49ers will have to release too many good players

OLB Cam Johnson, RB Jewel Hampton ILB Nate Stupar and S/CB Michael Thomas have all been impressive. But how many of these players can the 49ers actually keep? Maybe none of them. This has to be frustrating for general manager Trent Baalke. He’s obviously made a number of excellent personnel decisions but the NFL limit of a 53-man roster will force the 49ers to release NFL-worthy players.
The NFL revenue is now into the double-digit billions. They could afford to expand their rosters and pay more players. It would allow teams to keep more players to develop, which keep more players employed and improve the overall quality of play.
The NFL will now have to pay about $30 million because of the concussion settlement. Nevertheless, they should have the revenue to still expand roster. Estimates are that by 2025, revenues will more than triple from last year’s total of $9 billion to $27 billion.